Martin Whitmarsh: There's still a long way to go, because as I say we're not yet even close to where we want and need to be in terms of car performance, but it's probably fair to state that, although the gains we've made have been small so far, the development trend appears to be in the right direction

Good to see McLaren getting closer to the top. Actually I believe that their car had more potential in Melbourne but they were unable to exploit it because of set-up problems and the strange nature of the circuit of Albert Park. Now on a more normal circuit combined with warmer temperatures, McLaren looks more competitve and a lot of closer to the top. Still they were somwhat off pace in the wet but I should recall the 2012 German GP which Button qualifyed 3 sec behind Alonso in the wet qualifying and come race day, which was dry, he managed to fight with Alonso and Vettel for race victory. Anyway, happy to see McLaren getting better and happy to watch Button today in a Vodafone advertisement speaking a few words in Albanian, my language.

@firestorm - as we all know, rain affected qualifying can throw up unexpected results, look at Kimi today, but last years McLaren was a lot more competitive at this stage than this years (to state the blindingly obvious) so don't expect a podium. If its a rain affected race though....?

One thing McLaren have always had (apart from two years of Senna/Prost and two years of Alonso/Hamilton) is great team spirit and they're all in the trenches now, backs against the wall and all that, and they'll be pushing like crazy. They should take a look at Gary Andersons video piece on the BBC web-site, some thoughtful observations about the front wing.

Yes they appear to be going in the right direction but this particular circuit maybe slightly flattering, if it's a wet race they may well be able to get some good points it all depends on how many cars Hamilton takes out in a bid to grab the lead by the first corner. 'that was meant to be a bit of a wind up Bob' but we all know what can happen when large egos get involved.

@Angelina, ahah! So 'No Grip' very obviously IS an insult. Judging by your post you're obviously not a Button fan. Fair enough. But why the pettiness? And that's not only directed at your post but many others here. People are going to have favoured drivers and teams but why act so petty towards rival teams or drivers or even team mates? It makes a lot of the commenters here seem like they're no older than 12. Shame too because often there are some insightful posts which may get overlooked because the rest are having a damn argument of Hamilton & Button!!

angie. if you read a lot of drivers statements, you will see them referring to having "no grip". even lulu stated that last year. it is a common term for when the tyre goes off the cliff, and there is , in fact, NO GRIP.

The car looked resonably competitive in Q1 and Q2, and the red bull looked to struggle more in these sessions. In fact based on the hard tyre option they could have a top five finish. Still I think Massa and Alonso could be real contenders.

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